This practical resource explains brain development from prenatal to age 8 with suggestions for activities educators and caregivers can use to foster children's cognitive growth. The authors begin with the basics of brain development, and the issues that affect it, and then provide information specific to infant, toddler, preschool, and…

Parent involvement in children's language and literacy development is a continuum. Parents enhance their newborn baby's language and vocabulary growth, whereas with older children parents are involved in school and provide support by engaging in learning activities such as assisting with homework. Parent involvement is an important part of…

Interactive Literacy Activities, or ILAs, broadly refer to activities that facilitate interaction between adults and children for the purpose of promoting literacy and language development. It is essential to make ILAs developmentally and culturally appropriate for children and to use an approach that integrates various activities in order to…

Meaningful activities are described that are designed to elicit five language functions normally required in relating socially in school settings while stating personal needs; directing the actions of self and others; giving information; reasoning; judging, and predicting; and imagining and projecting into nonclassroom situations. (Author/CL)

Bring the past into the present to view history in a new way. (Editor)

These workshop materials describe an approach to teaching children about dinosaurs. The lesson centers on a story written by Dr. Edith Bondi and illustrated by Shawn Turung, entitled "Just Like People." The story, appended, consists of 36 ways dinosaurs are similar to and, occasionally, different from human beings. Illustrations, too,…

Songs, rhymes, and sayings entered in this handbook are particularly useful as basic teaching techniques for babies and small children. Popular and easy to learn, many are simple Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Others are traditional songs and sayings that have been passed on from generation to generation in our culture. Some are appropriate for use…

This article describes an experimental curriculum for kindergarten based on the assumption that systematic participation in formal dramatics will improve the verbal ability of the child. Dramatic experiences are offered in sequential order. (CM)

The authors discuss how language acquisition and development activities can be developed with the mentally retarded through the use of National Wildlife Conservation Stamps. (SBH)

Presents suggestions for using plays in the classroom as a means of developing language and reading skills. Provides a list of plays covering many topics and grade levels. (FL)

Offers guidelines for helping children produce their own alphabet books. (FL)

One of a series intended for parents and other caregivers, this handbook on child development focuses on the first 2 years of life. Contents include discussions on (1) basic developmental principles; (2) physical development; (3) cognitive development and language acquisition; (4) personality development, temperament, attachment, and bonding; (5)…

Provides examples of word play that reading teachers can use to reinforce a variety of skills. (FL)

One of a series written for parents and other caregivers, this handbook on child development focuses on children from 2 to 6 years of age. Contents describe (1) physical development in terms of body size and shape, brain and eyes, and motor skills; (2) cognitive development and language acquisition; (3) personality development, with particular…

This book uses art to stimulate content-area language development and writing skills. From A to Z, the 81 animal patterns in the book combine with 35 different activities to enhance the primary curriculum--each student gets a photocopy of the pattern, paper, scissors, and some materials to decorate the "critter." The book's activities…